Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, founded in 1976, is one of South Carolinas 10 regional planning councils. The council provides planning and technical support to local governments for developing local and regional plans within the tri-county region. The organization also provides technical assistance in a variety of fields, including comprehensive planning, statistical information gathering and analysis and water resource management. It has a governing board of 45 members appointed by local governments. Located in North Charleston, S.C., the council comprises four departments, including community development, information resources, economic development and planning services department.